The Thing with Cassandra and Us
by jedimasterstar
Summary: There are firsts for everyone. For the Doctor and Rose, it's the first fight of their new companionship. And it is over Cassandra as well as their relationship. Part of my "A Different Kind of Regeneration" series.


**Warnings:** Spoilers for "New Earth" (for those who have not seen it yet)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Doctor Who_ or any recognizable characters. I just own the twisted idea of turning the Doctor into a woman.

**A/N:** Taking a bit of advice from Caellach Tiger Eye, I interweaved some of the episode into this one-shot, changing it to accommodate the new Doctor. Hope you all like!  
**A/N2:** Also, this story follows my other two stories "A Different Kind of Regeneration" and "Christmas Musings". But this can be read alone, but I

**Summary:** There are firsts for everyone. For the Doctor and Rose, it's the first fight of their new companionship. And it is over Cassandra as well as their relationship.

* * *

Rose can be so dense sometimes. She seemed to feel that her place is on top of the world, though the Doctor knew better than that. _More like on top of a empty planet, her own little world_, she thought as she flicked a couple of switches.

The human girl did not earn brownie points with her when she flippantly said goodbye to her mother, barely acknowledge Jackie's sorrow about her leaving and basically treated Mickey like nothing when he said 'I love you'. To the Time Lady, that was just low. What kind of person would do that? Now, she herself never got along well with Mickey, but he was an okay guy.

But Rose was Rose. And she was still going to travel with her. Hopefully, she would help Rose realize what she is becoming, but something inside of her told her that might not be the case…

_Flashback_

_As they got up off the apple grass they were relaxing on, Rose asked, "Can we go and visit New New York – so good they named it twice?"_

_The Doctor shook her head. "Not yet," she replied. Seeing confusion and slight anger in the girl's eyes, she explained, "We need to stop somewhere first."_

_Placing her hands on her hips, she said, "Oh?"_

"_Specifically there," added the Time Lady, ignoring the glare she was getting and pointed to a large building in the distance._

"_Why? What is it?"_

_Putting on her jacket (a lucky feat in this wind), she replied, "A hospital. The green moon on the side is a dead giveaway. It's the universal symbol for hospitals these days."_

"_Okay," said Rose. A moment later, she again asked, "Why?"_

_The Doctor shook her head. Pulling out the psychic paper, she replied, "I got this before we left your mother. A message on the psychic paper. See, look at this. 'Ward 26 – Please Come'. Someone wants me to visit."_

_As she put the paper back in her denim jacket, Rose just stared at her and mumbled, "Great. __And I thought we were just sight-seeing." Lacing her arm through hers, she added, "Come on then! Let's go and buy some grapes." The Doctor just gave her a "you got to be kidding me" look as her companion dragged her off._

_End Flashback_

Thinking back on this adventure, the Time Lady hoped that Rose would have learned something; but it seemed that she did not even _think _about what had happened. _This is going to take a _while, she thought. Hearing a noise, the Doctor looked up to see Rose coming back into the console room. "Well, that's the end of Cassandra," said Rose.

Now if it was said differently, she would have not said anything. But the human said it was such _contempt_… "What is that suppose to mean?" she asked.

Rose gave her a confused look before saying, "She won't be bothering us anymore. I think it is a good thing."

"Why is it a good thing?"

"Um…"

"I think you were afraid of what she would have said if she remained in control," the Doctor answered for her. She knew what could have happened; and she was glad that Cassandra did not go _too_ far.

"You didn't help any," retorted Rose, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "You didn't know that she was in my mind!"

Without even looking up, she replied, "Oh, I knew _something_ was wrong. I just didn't know _what_." Giving the girl a sly smile, she tapped her nose and added, "The nose always knows."

_Flashback_

"_Where in the world is she?" mumbled the Doctor as she looked at the patient in front of her. Studying closer, she turned to the elevator in time to see Rose walked out, smoothing her hair back down. She smiled when she saw the Doctor. "What did you do? Go the wrong way?" she complained to the human. All Rose did was give her normal glare. Waving her over, the Time Lady said, "Come and look at this patient!"_

_But as Rose wandered over, the Doctor took a deep breath and stood still. Rose smelt wrong. Really wrong. Like she was a different person. Looking at the patient but secretly watching Rose, she continued, " This man has Marconi's Disease. A disease that should take __years __to recover from. He recovered in two days." The Time Lady shook her head. "I've never seen anything like this. They've invented a cell washing cascade, which is remarkable. Their medical science is __so __advanced. And this one!" she added, heading over to another patient. "The one had Pallidome Pancrosis. Emphasis on the 'had'. This one kills you in ten minutes, and he's fine! Healed! Something is wrong here." A moment later she amended, "I mean, it's great that they are cured – but why keep the medicine a secret? I need to find a terminal."_

_Walking off, she heard Rose say, "I can't Adam and Eve it." But it was not her voice._

_Looking back at her, she asked, "What happen to your voice? Choke on a furball?"_

_Rose's face went red with anger and answered, "What? So what if someone is wrong with my voice!"_

"_It's just a question. Don't get so defensive."_

"_Defensive? At least I'm not acting like some stuck up prick!"_

_Rose then got right up into her face. "I would reconsider whatever you are thinking," warned a currently composed Doctor, though her anger was starting to build._

_Glaring at her one last time, Rose turned and said, "Terminal's this way." As she sauntered off, the Time Lady watched her, her suspicion growing…_

_End Flashback_

"Oh, so now your nose is superior," Rose remarked sarcastically as she leaned against one of the pillars. "At least I didn't knowingly let her take over me."

"Bad word phrasing on my part. At least she left you." Rose was quiet at that point. The Doctor knew why. Cassandra's memories from her time in Rose transferred with her when she jumped to the Doctor. Rose was thinking about her. Thinking about what she would have been like if she was a man. she even fell in love with her previous incarnation, though the Doctor managed to hide the fact that her ninth male self did not return it. Well, not she would have liked it. Let Rose keep her fantasies.

"Um…"

"Don't even, Rose. I don't want to talk about it," she interrupted. She _really_ did not want to talk about it. Though the ending was pleasant for the most part, though the conversation with the Face of Boe could not have been more vague…

_Flashback_

_Walking back to the ward where the Face of Boe was, the Doctor smiled. He looked alive and healthy. "I thought you were supposed to be dying?" she questioned as she walked up to him._

"_There are better things to do today. Dying can wait," responded the Face through telepathy. For some odd reason, he felt familiar._

"_Oh, I __hate __telepathy. Just what I need, a head full of big face," complained Cassandra, currently back in Rose's body._

"_If you don't shut up, you might find your head full of something else," warned the Doctor. She immediately closed her mouth._

_Ignoring Cassandra, the Face continued, "I have grown tired with the universe, Doctor, but you have taught me to look at it anew." Again, she felt a familiar sense of happiness that was not her own._

"_You needed it. Besides, being millions of years old, I think you need to live for million," she replied._

"_Oh?"_

"_Don't tell me you don't know your own legend!"_

"_They say I'm millions of years old? That would be impossible," chuckled the Face._

_She chuckled too. "We wish. But I've also heard that you have something to tell me…"_

"_A great secret."_

"_So says the legend."_

"_It can wait," came the response. The Doctor gave him a 'give me a break' expression. The Face added, "We shall meet again, Doctor, for the third time…for the __last __time…and the truth shall be told. Until that day…" With that, he teleported away._

_The Doctor shook her head. "Textbook example of being enigmatic," she murmured. She then turned her attention to Cassandra, thinking about _how_ she was going to this intervention…_

_End Flashback_

There was something about the Face of Boe. Something familiar. _I have time to figure it out_, she thought. "But still," Rose said, "at least Cassandra won't be doing anything bad anymore."

"When was wanting to survive bad?" inquired the Doctor. "Now, I don't condone how she tried to do it; but she just wanted to live. Anyone would do that."

"She was jealous of you."

"Of course. I lied to her before. Of course she should would be upset," said the Time Lady. Flicking a switch, the TARDIS entered the Vortex. She smiled as that familiar sound hummed in her head.

"I still think you should not have been nice to her," grumbled Rose, "especially after what she did to me."

"I thought that it was touching. She got to reassure herself that she was beautiful," defended the Doctor. Looking at her companion, she asked, "Why are you being selfish all of the sudden?"

Rose was taken aback. "I'm selfish? At least I _think_ about us," she replied.

"_Us_? Rose, it's just me. There can be no _us_. I show all of you the universe; but in the end, it's just me," she replied. "And I will say this now and I will probably say it a lot, I will _not_ change for you."

Hearing this, Rose turned red and said, "Why? Why not?"

"I don't have that many lives yet. I will not waste them on you. You have to think of yourself."

"I am. I'm staying with you. Forever."

When she heard that, the Doctor froze. "Don't say that," she warned.

"Say what?"

"There's no such thing as forever. You'll leave before that."

"I won't."

"You will. Not here, not now, but you will," she said calmly.

But nothing she said mattered to Rose. "We'll see," she said as she stomped out of the console room.

Shaking her head, the Doctor said, "And there ends our first fight." The TARDIS hummed in agreement.


End file.
